Apparatus for contacting gases with a solid material



Jan. 4, l 9. J. w. PAYNE APPARATUS FOR CONTAGTING GASES 2 sheets-snee; 1

'I TH A SOLID HATERIAL' Original Filed llay 20. 1944 Jghw MPWNE NHHHMWHMHU NVENTOR AGENToR ATTORNEY Jan. 4, H949.

original Filed nay 2o, 1944 APPARATUS WITH A J. W. PAYNE CONTACTING GASES SOLID MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Il FH HU B gil. .ewAW ENTOR ATTORNEY I named im. meer V2,458,412 1 :APPARATUS Fon coN'rAcrmG cAsas wrm A SOLID MATERIAL Jouw. Payne, Woodbury, N. .1., signor to socorny-Vacuum Oll- Company, Incorporated, a corporation of New York Original application May 20,1944, Serial No. f

536.494.- Divided and this application January -10,l 946, Serial No. 640.363

This appuceuon is a division of application, serial Number 535,494,1i1ed1n the United states Patent omoe on Mey zo, 1944. Y

This invention hasv to'- do with an apparatus.

for carrying out reactions involving a contact 5 When some form of structure was utilized which mass of granular or particle form'and vaporous presented a sumclent amount of voids distributed reactants. Itis particularly concerned with'ap throughout the contact mass to avoid undue paratus of this general nature wherein the conpressure drops it became difficult ,to secure good l tact mass ows either continuously or semi-condiiusion of reactants into the contact mass. tinuously through the reaction zone. Thisappai0 An apparatus wherein gaseous reactants .are ratus is applicable to anyconversion of this gencontacted with a moving solid column of contact eral type and is specifically applicable to such mass material in such a manner as to provide operations as the vapor phase conversion of high diffusion of such reactants through such contact boiling point petroleum hydrocarbons to lower mass material while at the same time permitting boiling point hydrocarbons, to vapor phase oxil relative'y high rates of gas flow throughut dation of organic compounds, topolymerization COllPled With relatively W Overall Pressure drops of vaporous compositions and in general to any iS the Snbletl 0f the application for U. S. Patent reaction which may be carried out by contacting Serial N0. 447.432, filed June 17, 1942. now Patof a reactant material in vapor phase with a ent No. 2,417,399, dated March 11, 1947. 0f which catalytic materia! which may take the form of the present applicant WaS One 0f the applicants. a contact mass material or which'may be de- In a Dreferred f0rm 0f the apparatus dlSClOSed posited within or upon such a contact mass main that anpieation, gas `was introduced to the terial. Since many such reactions require'regeneOlumn 0f mvlng Solid material tlnnngh a Plueration of the contact mass used and since such rality of vertically spaced inlet distributors exregeneration usually likewise takes the form of tendine transversely across the column of solid a contact of gaseous or vaporous reactant with material and arranged in ll0l`v0nta'llllA Spaeed a contact mass, the apparatus and method is also vertical rOWS; and the gas Was Withdrawn from capable of being utilized for such regenerations. the COlnInn through .a plurality 0f vertically As a specic example of a conversionwhich may` spaced colectors arranged'in vertical rows interbe accomplished, there may be cited the above mediate Said rows of distributors. l mentioned conversion of high boi'ing point; pe- The instant invention is an improvement over troleum fractions to gasoline. Such conversions. the apparatus above described and is especially are usually carried out in the presence of an'ad-V ldil'eetetl t0 an apparatus having the advantages ysorbent refractory contact mass. consisting of 0f the one above referred to whievprovidins an associated alumina. and silica lnfgranular4 ,or 35 improvement in the uniformity 0f Solid material pellet form. Such contact masses are frequently 'Contact With the gas thrOughpnt in all sections referred to as olays.- As a specific exampleof re-f 0f a reaction zone'. "In, systems wherein a pargeneration reactions, there may be mentioned ticle form VSolifl material DaSSeS downwardly the regeneration of the above Contact mass by through e reaction Zone es e substantially comreacting it with air or oxygen containing gas to 40 Pact eelumn, it iS Very dilleult to prevent at least remove from it combustible carbonaceous de- Some Of lThe Selldrnaterlalpartieles from Passing posits 1aid down during the onversiou downwardly in substantially theA same vertical Proper utilization of contact masses in such plane during the entire length of its travel prucesses requires a rather gommate diffusion of through a reaction zone. In such systems it is vaporous reactants into 'the contact mass'. It 45 1mpertant not ony to provide uniform rates of also requires the capability of passing comparaas flow in all parts 0f the Column CIOSS-Seetlon tively large volumes of gaseous reactants through but it lS alSO neCeSSary t0 provide uniform conthe apparatus without undue pressure you In tact of the solid material in all parts of the colformer designs, it usually has been found necesumn ONSS-Section With gas Of the Same average sary to sacrifice one of these desirable features COmIJGSltlOn.' Otherwise Dart 0f the solid ma` to some extent in favor of the other. For exterlal Will be Overlleated 01' OVeleXDOSed and ample, in a process wherein the reactants are Part will be undertreated or undereXpOSed repassed through a relatively deep bed of contact sulting not only in ineiliclent use of the solid mamass, limited spaced lve'ocities of reactant were M terial but also lack'of uniformity in they treat.

necessary both to avoid undue pressure drop and to avoid space velocities at which the carrying effect of a reactant would be such as to bring about boiling" of the contact mass'with con` sequent channeling and ineffective utilization.

ment of the gas throughput.

' vides a. novel solution to this dilculty while at the same time providing all of the advantages of the above mentioned apparatus which is the subject of U. S. patent application Serial No. 447,- 432. As a result, improved treating emciencies may be obtained and relatively wide spacing of the gas distributor and collector members is permissible in those operations wherein such spacing is desirable.

A major object of this invention is the provision oi an apparatus wherein gaseous materials may be passed through a moving column of particle form solid material for the purpose of treatment in such a manner as to insure uniform gas flow across substantially the entire column a sectional plan view taken at line 2 2 in Figure 1 and Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1. All of these drawings are highly diagrammatic in form.

Turning now to Figure 1, this iigure represents in diagram form a vertical section of an apparatus according to this invention for contacting gasi-form reactants with a substantially compact column of downwardly flowing granular or particle form solid material. In this drawing, I represents the shell of a reactor and the portion between lines II represents one reaction section thereof. A reactor depending upon conditions and capacities to be met may consist of one or more sections similar to that between lines II; only one such section will bel explained in detail. The reactor is lined internally with a thickness of insulation I3 supported between two casing plates I2 and I4. Positioned within the reactor are a plurality of inverted angle shaped troughs such as I5 and I6 which extend transversely across the reactor in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. These troughs are arranged in a plurality of vertical rows spaced side by side across the reactor, the troughs being vertically spaced apart in said vertical rows. A plurality of Vertical tubes are spaced horizontally apart in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing along each row of troughs so that the tubes pass through each trough of each vertical row of troughs. These tubes are of two types, distributing tubes and collecting tubes, arranged alternately in each row. The front row shown in Figure 1 as tubes I'I are distributor tubes which are closed at their upper ends I8 and are open attheir lower ends I9. The collector tubes are open on either end and are aA little longer than the distributing tubes so that the upper ends and lower ends 2| of lthese tubes may be seen projecting beyond the ends of the distributing tubes. Perforations or orifices 22 are provided in the distributor tubes at locations under the vertically alternate troughs I5 which serve as distributing troughs, so as to place the interior of said tubes in communication with the space under said troughs. Perforations or orifices are not provided in the distributor tubes at locations under the remaining vertically alternate troughs I6, which are gas collector troughs. Perforations or orifices are provided in the collector tubes under the collector troughs I6 and not under the distributor troughs I5. These latter oriiices are represented by the dotted circles 23. Near the bottom of the reaction section a row of horizontally spaced gas inlet hoods 24 are provided, which have .angle shaped roofs through vwhich the distributor and collector tubes extend.

These gas inlet hoods are open on their inlet ends into a gas inlet duct running behind the reactor shell in a position indicated by dotted lines 25. It will be seen that the gas collector tubes extend through these gas inlet hoods and extend down into the column of particle form solid material in the seal zone 26, below the reaction section, so that the flow of inlet gas into the lower ends of the collector tubes is substantially prevented. Near the top of the reaction section are positioned a row of gasoutlet hoods 29 which are shown running horizontally across the reaction section in a direction perpendicular f to that of the inlet hoods. These outlet hoods have an inverted angle shaped roof and an upright angle shaped bottom in which slots 3| are provided lfor escape of entrained solid material. Each of these hoods are open on either end and placed in communication with gas outlet manifold box 32 by means of hollow sleeves 33. Both the distributor and collector tubes extend through the bottom 3II of these hoods and are supported and/or braced thereby. Outlet conduits 34 are provided between the outlet manifold boxes 32 and the gas outlet ducts or stacks 35.

Also positioned within the reaction section are a plurality of deflectors 36, which-extend transversely across the section in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawings and which are arranged horizontally intermediate the rows of distributor and colector troughs and tubes and vertically intermediate adjacent distributor and collector troughs. These deflectors are in the form of inverted louvered angles, the louvers in the sides of said angles being such as will per mit free flow of gas therethrough while substantially preventing flow of particle form solid'material therethrough. One or more rows of such louvers .may be provided in each side of the deiiectingV angle. Moreover, in a less preferred modification deflector troughs having perforated sides may be used provided the perforations are such as will prevent passage of the solid particles therethrough. These deectors thus define substantially solid material free bypass passages for gas flow through portions of the moving solid material column maintained in the reactor during operation. The amount of solid by-pass is substantially equal to the vertical distance between the surface of the solid material, represented by dotted lines 31, under such deflector to the louvered openings in the sides of such deiectors. In the preferredmodiiication of this invention, the size and spacing of such deiiectors should be such that the distance for vertical gas flow through` the solid material between vertically adjacent distributor and collector troughs,'repre sented by dotted line a, should be substantially equal to the sum of the straight line distances for gas iiow through the solid material from inlet trough I5 to deflector 36, line b, plus that from dei'lector 36 to collector trough I 6, line c. Under such conditions the gas may ow through the solid material between the distributor and collector troughs with equal ease by either of the two passages, thereby providing uniform gas flow across the entire reactor cross-section.

Turning now to Figure 2, which is a sectional plan view of the reaction section taken'at line 2-2 in Figure 1, we iind the reactor shell I0, the insulation I3. the distributor troughs I5, the distributor tubes I1 and collector tubes I8 and the deilectors 36. It will be seen that the deflectors 36 are supported on their ends from casing I4 by supports 38 and 39. It will be seen that distributor and collector tubes are arranged alternately in each row thereof. While this is a preferred arrangement, other Lrrangements may be used. For example, the distributor and collector tubes in each row might be arranged in alternate sets of two.

Turning to Figure 3, which is a sectional view taken at lines 3-3 in Figure 1, we find the shell I0, insulation I3, gas outlet hoods 29 having angled shaped bottoms 38, the distributortubes I1, the collector tubes I8, the' distributor trough freshness. Not only is this accomplished. but also I5 and collector trough I6 and the deflector 36.

Behind the reactor is shown the gas outlet manifold box 32 and outlet conduit therefrom 34. It will be seen that the upper ends of the gas collector tubes are openl While those of the distributor tubes are closed.

Turning -again to Figure 1 for study of the operation of the apparatus, particle form solid material is passed through the reaction section as a substantially compact column of downwardly moving material, sufficient space being provided at either end of the section to provide columns of said material of sumcient length to substantially prevent the .flow of gas from the ends of the reaction sections into adjacent sections. Such sections may be called seal zones and are represented at 26 and 48. The rate of flow of the solid material may be suitably controlled by throttling means provided at the bottom outlet from the reaction vessel (not shown). Gaseous reactants enter the inlet hoods 24 from inlet duct 25 and then pass into the distributor tubes I'I through the lower ends thereof. The gas is then distributed by these tubes through orifices 22 under all of the gas distributor troughs I5. The gas then ows through the solid material between distributor troughs in the paths clearly shown by arrowed lines, the ow being both upward and downward between adjacent distributor and collector troughs and part of the flow taking paths through the by-pass passages provided by deflectors 36. The gas is withdrawn from under the collector troughs I6 through orifices v23 into collector tubes I8 through which it ows upwardly, discharging under outlet hoods 29. It

` is then withdrawn through sleeves 33 into manifold boxes 32 and thence through conduits 34 and ducts 35 to the product recovery system of the process or to a stack depending upon the type` of process involved. The distributor and collector troughs and the deilectors 36 act to deflect the flow of the solid material so as to substantially limit the percentage of solid material passing straight through the reaction section in any one vertical plane. Moreover, by the arrangement for gas ow herein provided solid material passing along a vertical plane near the distributor and collector troughs is alternately contacted with fresh and spent reactant gas, and solid material passing along a vertical plane near the defiectors 36 is constantly subjected to a gas which is only partly spent. Consequently, any solid material passing downward through the reaction section along any plane in the reaction zone would by provision of paths of now for gas through the solid material at locations horizontally between vertical rows of distributor and collector troughs, which paths of iiow offer no more resistance to gas ilow than the direct vertical paths between adjacent distributor and collector troughs, a uniform rate of gas flow is .provided throughout the entire reactor cross-section. This permits increased reaction efllcienoies especially in those processes wherein the gases arebeing catalytically converted into valuable gaseous products, such as, for example, the catalytic cracking conversion of hydrocarbongas oils togasoline. Inasmuch as the maximum distance for gas flow through the solid material in the reaction zone is only the depth of the bed between gas distributor and adjacent gas collector troughs, very considerable volumes of reactants with respect to the volume of solid material may be handled at relatively low pressure drops.

In some operations, such as for example, the regeneration of contaminant bearing particle form solid adsorbent materials by the action of a combustion supporting gas, it may be desirable to remove or add heat to 'the solid material. In such operations it is desirable to pass the solid material through a series of superposed regeneration sections or stages such as hereinabove described, each stage being separated by seal zones as 40 and 26 in Figure 1 to prevent interfiow of gas between adjacent stages. The seal zones may be made of suiiicient length between at least some of the stages to permit provision of heat exchange tubes therein. Such tubes 4I are shown in the seal zone 26 of Figure 1. A fluid heat transfer medium may be passed through such tubes in such a way as to provide addition or removal of heat to or from the solid material passing through such zones. It is obvious that if Figure 1 were directed only to a single section reactor in which control of solid material temperature was desired prior to entry to the reaction section, that tubes such as 4I could be mounted similarly upwardly of the gas outlet hoods 29.

While the hereinabove described vapparatus is a preferred form of this invention, it will be ap'- parent that modified shapes and types of gas distributng members and gas collecting members, and by-pass passage defining deilectors may also y. be employed within the scope of this invention. Moreover, modified means .for distributing the gas to said distributing troughs and collecting gas from said collecting troughs may also be employed. As has been hereinbefore shown, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is desirable that the positioning and size of the deflectors 38 of Figure 1, be such that the distance for gas flow through solid material in a substantially vertical path between adjacent gas distributor and collector troughs is substantially equal to the distance for gas flow through the solid material between the same distributor and collector troughs by way of the deflector adjacent thereto. It will be understood, however, that a somewhat less desirable, though still entirely feasible operation may be obtained when the distance for gas iiow over the two paths is somewhat diiferent.

It will be understood that the attached drawings and the description of the apparatus of this invention are merely exemplary in nature and are in no way intended to limit the scope of this invention except as it is limited in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for contacting gas with particle form solid material, means'deilnlng a v ertical chamber, a plurality of g'as inlet and gas outlet defiectors arranged in a pluralityof substantially vertical rows of vertically spaced alternate inlet and outlet deilectors, said vertical rows being spaced side by side across said chamber.

each of said deilectors comprising an inverted trough, a plurality of vertical tubes, spacedhorizontally apart, passing through each deector of each vertical row of deflectors so as to form a plurality of rows of said vertical tubes spaced side by sideacross said vessel. certain of said tubes being perforated to provide communication between the interior thereof and the space below each gas inlet deflector through which they pass, said tubes serving as distributor tubes, the remainder of said tubes being perforated to provide communication between the interior thereof and the space below each gas outlet deilector, said tubes serving as collector tubes, duct means to admit gas to each of said distributor tubes and duct means to withdraw gas from each of said collector tubes, a second plurality of deectors comprising inverted troughs positioned within said chamber at locations horizontally intermediate said vertical rows of inlet and outlet deflectors and vertically intermediate adjacent inlet and outlet defiectors, said last named inverted troughs having foraminate sides of such construction as to permit flow of gas therethrough while substantially preventing passage of solid particles therethrough.

2. In an apparatus for contacting gas with particle form solid material, means defining a substantialy vertical chamber, a plurality of inverted gas inlet and gas outlet troughs arranged in a plurality of substantially vertical rows of vertically spaced alternate inlet and outlet troughs, said rows being spaced apart side by side across said chamber, means toadmit gas to the underside of said gas inlet troughs, means to withdraw gas from the underside of said gas outlet troughs, a plurality of horizontally extending trough forming members forming troughs having foraminate sides positioned within said chamber horizontally intermediate said vertical rows of inlet and outlet troughs and vertically intermediate adjacent inlet and outlet troughs.

3. An apparatus for contacting gas with moving particle form solid material comprising means defining a substantially vertical elongated chamber, means to supply solid material to the upper end thereof, means to withdraw solid material from the lower end thereof, a plurality of vertically spaced apart groups of horizontally extending inverted gas inlet and outlet troughs in said chamber, the troughs in each group being arranged in a plurality of substantially vertical rows of vertically spaced alternate inlet and outlet troughs, said rows of troughs being spaced apart side by side across said chamber, means to admit gas to the underside of said gas inlet troughs in each group, means to withdraw gas from the underside of said gas outlet troughs in each group, and a plurality of horizontally extending inverted troughs positioned within said chamber horizontally intermediate said vertical rows of inlet and outlet troughs and vertically intermediate adjacent inlet and outlet troughs, said second plurality of troughs having louvered sides of such construction as to permit gas flow Vtherethrough while substantially preventing gravity iiow of solid particles therethrough.

4. A catalyst regenerator comprising means defining a substantially vertical chamber, means to supply solid material to the upper end thereof, means to withdraw solid material from the lower end thereof, a plurality of vertically spaced apart groups of horizontally extending inverted gas inlet and outlet troughs in said chamber. the troughs in each group being arranged in a plurality of substantially vertical rows of vertically spaced alternate inlet and outlet troughs, said rows of troughs being spaced apart side by side across said chamber, means to admit gas to the underside of said gas inlet troughs in each group, means to withdraw gas from the underside of said gas outlet troughs in each llOup, a plurality of horizontally extending inverted troughs positioned within said chamber horizontally intermediate said vertical rows of inlet and outlet troughs and vertically intermediate adjacent inlet and outlet troughs, said second plurality of troughs having foramlnate sides of such construction as to permit flow of gas therethrough while substantially preventing passage of solid particles there through. a plurality of heat exchange tubes distributed across said vessel at at least some of the levels therein between said groups of troughs and means to pass a heat exchange fluid through said tubes;

5. In an apparatus for contacting gas with particle form solid material, means dening a substantially vertical chamber, suitable for conning a substantially compact column of particle form solid material, a plurality of inverted horizontally extending gas inlet and gas outlet troughs arranged in a plurality of substantially vertical rows of vertically spaced alternate gas inlet and gas'outlet troughs, said rows being spaced apart side by side across said chamber, corresponding gas inlet .troughs in all the rows being disposed at substantially the same vertical levels and corresponding gas outlet troughs in all the rows being disposed at substantially the same vertical levels, means to admit gas to the underside of said gas inlet troughs, means to withdraw gas from the underside of said gas outlet troughs, a second plurality of horizontally extending inverted troughs positioned within said chamber horizontally intermediate said vertical rows of inlet and outlet troughs and vertically intermediate adjacent inlet and outlet troughs, said second plurality of troughs having louvered sides of such construction as to permit gas ow therethrough while substantially preventing solid particle flow therethrough.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5 characterized in that the size and positioning of said inverted louvered troughs is such that the vertical distance for gas iiow through particle form solid material between adjacent gas inlet and gas outlet troughs in any given vertical row thereof is substantially equal to the distance for gas flow through particle form solid material between the same two inlet and outlet troughs by way of the corresponding intermediately placed louvered trough.

7. VAn apparatus for contacting a particle form solid material with a gas comprising: means defining a substantially vertical chamber suitable for confining a substantially compact column of t particle form solid material, a plurality of horieficacia spaced apart side by side across said chamber, each of said deectors comprising means dening an inverted trough and corresponding inlet and outlet. deiiectors in all the vertical rows being positioned at substantially the same levels, a plurality of vertical tubes spaced horizontally apart, passing through each deector of each vertical row of deflectors so as to forma plurality of rows of said vertical tubes spaced side by side across said vessel, certain alternate tubes in each row being closed at one of their ends and being perforated to provide communication 'between the interior thereof and the space below each gas inlet deiiector through which they pass, said tubes serving gas distributor tubes, the remaining alternate tubes in each row being perforated to provide communication between the interior thereof and the space below each gas outlet deflector through which they pass, said tubes serving as gas collector tubes, duct means to admit gas to the open end of each of said distributor tubes and means to prevent gas tiow into the correspending end of the collector tubes, duct means to particles therethrough.

JOHN W. PAYNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,346,335 Randolph July 13, 1920 1,685,338 Randolph Sept. 25, 1928 2,417,399 Simpson et al. Mar. 11, 1947 

